Witness testifies he saw defendant strike victim

A former McPherson College football player testified Wednesday in McPherson County District Court he saw murder defendant Alton Franklin strike victim Brandon Brown.

By Cristina JanneyManaging Editor

A former McPherson College football player testified Wednesday in McPherson County District Court he saw murder defendant Alton Franklin strike victim Brandon Brown.

Franklin of Dallas was also a McPherson College football player and was at an off-campus party the early morning hours of Sept. 16 when he allegedly struck Brandon Brown, 26, of California, a Tabor College football player.

Brown later died of injuries he sustained at the party. Franklin is charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Torry Hamill, former McPherson College, football player testified he saw Franklin strike Brown on his left cheek with his right hand.

Hamill said he then saw someone else run to Brown and strike him on the left side of his face. He said he did not know who that person was.

Hamill admitted in his testimony when he left the house he picked up a large board that had been sitting inside the house. He said he put the board down near a trash and did not strike Brown with it.

Hamill admitted during his testimony he had misled police in his statements, saying he knew the second person who approached Brown was former defendant DeQuinte Flournoy. During the preliminary hearing he said fellow McPherson College football player Taajon Richardson had identified Flournoy.

Hamill also admitted to initially lying to police about picking up the board.

Hamill said he gave a false statement because he was afraid because police had named him as a suspect in the case. Flournoy testified earlier in the trial he hand seen Hamill standing next to Brown with the board.

However, two neighbors who testified Wednesday in the case, Ryan Polson and Chris Garcia, said they did not see anyone standing in the yard holding a large board.

Polson, who lived at 444 N. Carrie, said he watched the attack on Brown from his window the night of the party. Polson said he saw four to six people beating the victim. Polson said he could not identify the people he saw but could only see silhouettes.

Garcia, who lived in the other side of the duplex where the party was taking place, also testified he watched the attack on Brown from his window. He said he saw two people hitting and kicking the victim when he was on the ground. Garcia also said he could not see the faces of the people in the yard, but only could see silhouettes.

Flournoy earlier in the day concluded his testimony in the case.

He was moved to tears as a recorded interview in which he recounted the events the night Brown was killed was played in court. The interview was recorded last week after Flournoy agreed to a plea deal in exchange for his testimony in the Franklin case.

Flournoy admitted in court Tuesday under direct examination that he had pushed Brown down the night of the party. He said he did so because he thought Brown had a knife.

“I thought, 'I didn't want to get cut. I didn't want anyone to get cut,'” Flournoy said on the recording.

During cross examination by defense attorney David Harger, Flournoy said a number of items of Franklin's clothing were seized in the days after Brown was injured. These items were sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab. The KBI determined none of Brown's blood was on the clothing.

During Page's redirect, Flournoy said he did not know if the clothes that were seized were the clothes Franklin was wearing the night of the incident.

The defense showed several surveillance tapes from Metzler Hall, where Flournoy and Franklin were roommates.

Dr. Tyler Hughes also testified in the case on Wednesday and discussed his treatment of Brown when he was brought to McPherson Hospital's emergency room the night of the party. He described Brown as having extremely low oxygen levels. Hughes said he helped insert one of two chest tubes into Brown's chest.